CARBONDALE - Carbondale Area erased a slow start with a big fourth-down run.

Wide receiver Brad Sales sprinted past Tunkhannock's defense on an end-around run on a fourth-and-13 for a 38-yard touchdown and the Chargers never slowed in a 42-21 win over the Tigers in a nonconference game on Friday night.

Running back Ricky Jones added 60 yards rushing and two touchdowns - one a 90-yard kickoff return - wide receiver Jason Martin hauled in a pair of touchdown receptions and Jarrod Arendt went 6 for 6 on extra points.

"We just wanted to keep the victories going," Jones said. "We're all motivated. We played 100 percent and got the job done."

Carbondale Area (9-1 overall, 4-1 LFC Division III) clinched the No. 2 seed in the District 2 Class AA playoffs, after top-seeded Lake-Lehman beat Dallas, 48-41. Carbondale Area will host the No. 3 seed Lakeland in the first round.

"It's honestly surreal," Chargers coach Larry Gabriel III said. "Graduating as many guys as we did last year - we only returned two guys with any experience offensively - our seniors really stepped it up."

Tunkhannock forced Carbondale Area to go three-and-out on its first possession and held it to gains of two or fewer yards on five of the Chargers six plays on the following drive before Sales' fourth-down sprint along the sideline.

That score sparked the team's offense, which scored twice in its next five plays - first when Martin brought down a 22-yard strike from quarterback Jesse Jankowski and then when fullback Tim Mantis bullied his way into the end zone on a 7-yard run to push the Chargers' lead to 21-0.

Jankowski hit Martin for a 29-yard touchdown in the final moments of the first half, and Jones carried three times for 53 yards on his way to a score on the Chargers first possession of third quarter to stretch the lead to 35-0.

"(This season) has been a lot of work," Martin said. "Some tough work and a lot of hard defense. We've just got to keep looking forward."

Tunkhannock found its footing late in the third, stringing together a 17-play drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter by Brian Beauchemin, only to watch Jones run the ensuing kickoff back 90 yards for a score.

Brian Muckin added a pair of late touchdowns for Tunkhannock.

Contact the writer: cfoley@timesshamrock.com

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